They recommend that I remain on one side as much as possible to avoid rupturing the components of my inner ear, like the oval window and the cochlea. The doctors consult each other, and in the end I am asked to return the next day to officially diagnose the problem. What I'm worried about isn't only the test results, but also the fact that no one attempts to predict a recovery in my hearing. After various tests, including audiometry and tympanometry examinations, it is found that I have a severe loss of hearing in my right ear caused by the dive. With their usual courtesy and professionalism, the operators put me in contact with DAN's medical division, who strongly recommends that I have a visit to an ENT specialist as soon as possible.Īs DAN suggested, I go to the health center in Trieste. At this point, my husband thinks it best to call DAN for a consultation, only for precautionary measures. It's Monday, and we've returned from the weekend away, but my hearing loss doesn't show signs of improving. I get out of the water without any problems, and I don't think even remotely that I've suffered any related physical damage. Only once inside the cave do I feel the need to equalise and I feel a discomfort, but it gets better once I resurface. With my hearing giving no signs of returning to normal, I dive in and realise that now I'm able to equalise better and faster than the previous day, or at least it seems that way. This is the day of the most anticipated dive: the one to the caves in front of the diving centre. On the other hand, I'm still convinced that it can't be something serious because if it were it would hurt… Or not? The feeling of having my right ear full of water is so strong that by now I can't hear from it at all. Unfortunately, all the symptoms from that morning recur in the same way during and after the dive, with a lot of dizziness and bleeding from my nose. In the afternoon, after spending adequate amount time on land, we go to Jarbol for another amazing dive. "It'll all pass by this afternoon, " I tell myself, "or within the next few days." On board I feel a little dizzy, but then it passes immediately. I have a nosebleed, but it only lasts for the time it takes me to get back onto the boat. I surface with my right ear full of water and things sound muffled and far away. In this moment however, I don't feel anything except a slight discomfort. I feel no particular pain and I'm calm… and then they've always told me that when a problem is serious the pain is too. I continue to have difficulty equalising until, after a while, I feel that I've correctly equalised. My husband slows down his descent too, and waits for my OK sign. I equalise in continuation, but I need to descend slowly. I know how I am, I've been on over sixty dives I know that I need to start equalising immediately, within the first few metres, because my right ear is "difficult." The other divers descend without problems, but I'm not rushing, I prefer to do things calmly. The hood of my wetsuit is tight and it bothers me a bit, and so I decide to stretch it to let in some water. At our established signal, I dive in together with my other diving friends. It's a sunny day and the mild temperature lends to a nice dive. The dives that we planned with the diving centre are simple and always within the safety curve (with max depth of 30 meters for us Advanced Open Water divers).īefore diving in Bumbište, we depart by boat together with other divers and guides. Our group is composed of three Open Water divers (one of whom with over 200 dives), and three Advanced Open Water divers (myself, my husband and one expert diver). Finally, time to depart! Two days of diving activities in Croatia await me.
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